The fictionalized account of diplomat Dr. Ho Fengshan, Senior Counsel at the Chinese Ambassador's Office stationed in Vienna 1936-1940. He was responsible for issuing 7000+ passports for Jews to China. He was designated Righteous of the Nations in 2006. 375 pages ( )

Fictionalized account of a story based on a real Chinese diplomat and events that occurred in Vienna as the world headed into World War II.

FROM AMAZON: a profoundly moving novel about a diplomatic couple who risked their lives to help Viennese Jews escape the Nazis, inspired by the true story of Dr. Ho Fengshan, Righteous Among the Nations.

1938. Dr. Ho Fengshan, consul general of China, is posted in Vienna with his American wife, Grace. Shy and ill at ease with the societal obligations of diplomats’ wives, Grace is an outsider in a city beginning to feel the sweep of the Nazi dragnet. When Grace forms a friendship with her Jewish tutor, Lola Schnitzler, Dr. Ho requests that Grace keep her distance. His instructions are to maintain amicable relations with the Third Reich, and he and Grace are already under their vigilant eye.

But when Lola’s family is subjugated to a brutal pogrom, Dr. Ho decides to issue them visas to Shanghai. As violence against the Jews escalates after Kristallnacht and threats mount, Dr. Ho must issue thousands more to help Jews escape Vienna before World War II explodes.

Inspired by a remarkable true story, Night Angels explores the risks brave souls took and the love and friendship they built and lost while fighting against incalculable evil. ( )

It amazes me that after all these years, all the stories that keep being told about the horror that was inspired by one leader's never ending hate, we can still find people who want to deny and reintroduce it. I pray for all that reason will prevail in the end.

This is another must read book.

FROM AMAZON: a profoundly moving novel about a diplomatic couple who risked their lives to help Viennese Jews escape the Nazis, inspired by the true story of Dr. Ho Fengshan, Righteous Among the Nations.

1938. Dr. Ho Fengshan, consul general of China, is posted in Vienna with his American wife, Grace. Shy and ill at ease with the societal obligations of diplomats’ wives, Grace is an outsider in a city beginning to feel the sweep of the Nazi dragnet. When Grace forms a friendship with her Jewish tutor, Lola Schnitzler, Dr. Ho requests that Grace keep her distance. His instructions are to maintain amicable relations with the Third Reich, and he and Grace are already under their vigilant eye.

But when Lola’s family is subjugated to a brutal pogrom, Dr. Ho decides to issue them visas to Shanghai. As violence against the Jews escalates after Kristallnacht and threats mount, Dr. Ho must issue thousands more to help Jews escape Vienna before World War II explodes.

Inspired by a remarkable true story, Night Angels explores the risks brave souls took and the love and friendship they built and lost while fighting against incalculable evil. ( )

The Chinese consulate for Austria at the start of WWII has to choose between his career, family and the lives of the Austrian Jews. In saving thousands of Jews through issuing visas he loses his career and his marriage. His wife Grace, an American he met while in university in the US, also grows up from a quiet, innocent, introvert, to a person ready to standup and fight for her Jewish friend and her Chinese stepson. Grace still was self-centered to the point of selfish, she did eventually realize, albeit too late for her friend, that there was more to her life than just herself. The book told a story of how the atrocities of hate and war can be so devastating. A good read. ( )

I'm in tears!

I thoroughly enjoyed the story, and learning about this particular aspect of the atrocities committed in Vienna just prior to the second world war. However, the last two pages were the best part! Life can go on. Struggles can be overcome. ( )